Sholing 6 Petersfield Town 0: Petersfield Town closed a miserable 2017 with another miserable result on Saturday afternoon at Sholing.

The last 12 months may well be a year to forget for the Rams but this was also 90 minutes to forget as the home side cruised to a comfortable victory.

Sholing had the first chance of the game after only four minutes when a cross from the left evaded everyone except Lee Wort sliding in at the far post but he directed the ball well over the target.

Petersfield were only inches away from taking the lead on 20 minutes when Luke Kendall curled a free kick from the left into the box from 30 yards out and as Jordan Geddes slid in at the far post he couldn’t quite apply the finishing touch to divert the ball into the net.

The home side took the lead on 26 minutes when Wort capitalised on some confusion in the visiting defence and he took the ball into the right hand side of the penalty area before firing his shot across keeper Luke Eaton and into the net.

Petersfield went close again to getting themselves into the game when Billy Connor had a strong penalty appeal turned down after it appeared he was brought down inside the box. Luke Walker had a chance to shoot on the opposite side of the penalty area but his effort went straight into the body of keeper Ryan Gosney and was then cleared to safety.

The visitors went close again when the ball dropped to Gavin Keogh on the right hand edge of the penalty area and his first time volley dropped just wide of the far post.

Sholing doubled their lead on 32 minutes when the ball was slipped through to Rory Wood as he ran in behind the Petersfield defence and although Eaton blocked his first shot, the home player reacted quickest to reach the rebound and he rolled the ball into the empty net.

Petersfield made the worst possible start to the second half by conceding a third goal just three minutes after the restart. A low cross from inside the penalty area on the right was missed by everyone and Wort found the target from 10 yards out.

The fourth goal came on the hour mark when Wood got on the end of a good through ball on the right hand side of the penalty area. He then took the ball to the right before beating Eaton with a shot at his near post.

The fifth goal came on 73 minutes when a cross from the left found Marlon Mason in space and he appeared to fire the ball into the roof of the net – although the home side reported this as an own goal.

Petersfield rallied again and Will Essai played a ball down the middle which Connor almost got to but a combination of a defender and Gosney blocked his opportunity. Kendall then tried his luck from 25 yards out but his shot went just wide of the post.

Sholing completed the scoring with two minutes remaining when the visitors failed to deal with a low cross into the box from the left and Wort was left with a simple tap in from close range to complete his hat-trick.

Before the final whistle, Eaton got down low at his near post to make a fine save with his body to prevent a further goal from going in.